1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a blanket for placement upon an infant buckled in a seat and method of using same; and more particularly, to a travel blanket having specially contoured sleeves and an open back construction so that the blanket can be placed upon and worn by an infant buckled in a seat while avoiding any need for adjusting the safety straps and disturbing the infant.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Laws involving installation and use of child car seats are quite complex and rigorously enforced. Proper installation and fit compel that only one or two finger widths of leeway separate the car seat straps from the body of a child positioned therewithin. This rather “tight” fit is required to assure the safety of a child riding in a car seat. During winter months or cold, damp conditions, it is difficult to properly place a child within a car seat, owing to the presence of winter clothing such as jump suits, jackets and the like. When positioning the child in a car seat during cold weather, the straps must painstakingly be adjusted to compensate for the additional outer garments worn.
Moreover, infants and toddlers pose unique safety risks as this vulnerable group of individuals can be subject to suffocation and/or injury due to garments having excessive material. In particular, where an infant's arms and hands are covered with draping material, the excess material poses an annoyance to the infant that likely causes crying outbursts and discomfort. Additionally, the draped material poses a safety issue as the infant could readily become entangled in the excess material, subjecting the infant to injury or suffocation. Wide sleeves or excess material in general pose suffocation and injury risks, as infants and toddlers do not have the motor skills to move or free themselves from draping wide sleeves and the like. Such excess material and wide sleeve construction can contribute to SIDS while the caregiver is driving and cannot see that the infant is trapped in the draping material. Serious considerations need to be analyzed and implemented when constructing a wearable blanket device for this particularly vulnerable age group.
Several blanket-sacs, buntings and bag-like articles have been provided for keeping infants warm when sleeping in a crib or cradle, but these blanket-sacs are not and cannot readily function as travel blankets in car seats and strollers. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 782,819 to Bikle discloses a fold over sleeping blanket; U.S. Pat. No. 2,374,299 to O'Hara discloses a sleeping bag for infants; U.S. Pat. No. 2,441,900 to Oswald discloses a child's garment having sleeve-like portions and a body portion; U.S. Pat. No. 2,496,922 to Virtue discloses an infant's sleeping garment (bag like); U.S. Pat. No. 2,530,464 to Haman discloses an infant's sleeping bag; U.S. Pat. No. 2,578,323 to Sillaway discloses an envelope-shaped garment having sleeves and being closed entirely along its bottom and sides; U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,371 to Christians discloses a baby bag garment; U.S. Pat. No. 5,129,406 to Magnusen et al. discloses an infant garment comprised of a saclike body with sleeves; U.S. Pat. No. 5,418,979 to Senderowicz discloses an infant sac including sleeves; and U.S. Design Pat. No. D296,378 to Coates discloses an ornamental design for a sac like structure having a front opening and sleeves. These garments, sac/bag-like articles are not capable of functioning in conjunction with a car seat or stroller and would interfere with proper safety strapping procedures. Generally, in operation of these bag-like articles a child is laid onto the back section of the garment/blanket and is then encased or enclosed therein via an opening in the front. As a result, attempting to utilize these sacs/bag-like articles during travel in a car seat (or stroller) would require the child to be inserted into the blanket, placed into the car seat, and the safety straps of the car seat adjusted for awkward and improper buckling as these bag-like articles do not adequately provide entry points for proper placement of the safety straps. Accordingly, these structures are not structurally capable of operating and functioning as coverings for an infant in a car seat.
Other infant blankets have been provided that generally include constructs as a garment/robe wherein sleeve portions and a panel for wrapping an infant is provided. For example(s): U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,096 to Olson discloses a versatile child's garment including a torso portion, an attachable hood and sleeves; U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,561 to Mc Ginnis discloses disposable infant garments; U.S. Pat. No. 6,450,168 to Nguyen discloses an infant's sleep blanket/garment for use with medical monitoring devices, which is offered as either a sleep sack or a sleep shirt; and U.S. Design Pat. No. D510,792 to Vazquez et al. discloses an ornamental design for an attached infant sleeper and blanket. Again, these articles are arranged to be utilized in a crib or cradle and are not capable of functioning, or adequately constructed, in conjunction with a car seat or stroller as these articles would interfere with safety straps. When donning these articles, a child is laid onto the back section of the garment/blanket and is then wrapped therein via an opening in the front. As a result, attempting to utilize these articles during travel in a car seat (or stroller) would require the child to be inserted into the garment, placed into the car seat, and the safety straps of the car seat adjusted for awkward and improper buckling as these articles do not adequately provide entry pointes for proper placement of the safety straps and are not travel blankets.
Various bib articles have been provided, which include a panel, a collar, and sleeves and are appointed to be placed frontward on an infant sitting in a high-chair for feeding. For example(s): U.S. Pat. No. 6,081,923 to Marks discloses an extended bib having cuffed sleeves and a free bottom edge having fasteners provided for engaging a bottom edge to a food tray; U.S. Design Pat. No. D59,555 to Ladd discloses an ornamental design for a bib having a pair of sleeves and a collar with a neck tie; and U.S. Design Pat. No. D288,022 to Marconi discloses an ornamental design for a bib with long sleeves provided with a pocket in front for collecting food or holding items/food. These sleeved-bib articles do not extend to cover an infant's legs and feet. Therefore, any application of the sleeved-bib articles as a blanket would be thwarted as a bib does not cover an infant's legs and does not provide a large enough surface area on lateral edges to offer blanket coverage to an infant's torso.
Some travel blankets have been provided that are appointed to integrate within a car seat covering. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 6,394,543 to Dunne et al. discloses a seat covering that includes a main body portion forming a pocket that fits over a seating device, and at least one blanket flap portion foldably coupled to the main body portion. Such car seat coverings must be applied to the seat before the infant is placed therein, and cannot be removed from the seat when the infant is lifted out. Further, the infant can readily kick or pull on the blanket flap portion and expose himself/herself to the cold, or cause pooling of the flap near the infant's face thereby posing a suffocation risk to which the parent would not be aware of during driving.
Even where various travel blankets that have been provided can be placed upon an infant in a seat, these travel blankets fail to provide the ability to secure the blanket to the outer sides and bottom edges of a car seat/stroller seat, and as a result, a child can easily kick these travel blankets off from their feet, exposing the child to the cold. What is more, none of the travel blankets provide tapered sleeve cuffs and as a result the blanket can easily fall off of the infant and can pose suffocation and mobility risks as infants motor skills are not fully functioning. Moreover, the disheveled blanket may fold or shift towards the child's face and pose a suffocation hazard. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 6,401,248 to Christensen discloses a travel blanket including a front cover (may include sleeves) with a hood having a front opening and a back opening designed to receive a child's head therethrough when the blanket is received on the child already strapped into a car seat, a stroller and other child carriers; U.S. Pat. No. 6,408,439 to Garforth-Crippen discloses a garment that can be donned while the wearer is seated, such as in a child car seat. The garment has an upper portion that wraps around the wearer's torso from the front to cover the sides and back of the child's torso. It also has a pair of sleeves, a neck opening having fasteners to secure behind the wearer's neck, and a lower portion that extends downward and is configured as a pouch for enclosing both of the wearer's legs from approximately the hips to the feet. The sleeve cuffs are not tapered and do not snuggly secure the infant's wrist; U.S. Pat. No. 6,948,200 to Wyman discloses a blanket appointed to be wrapped around a user in a sitting or semi-prone position. The blanket includes a lower portion and a top portion. The lower portion has a pouch to cover the feet and legs of the user, and the top portion wraps around the user; and the Slanket® Blanket, The Original Blanket with Sleeves, Slanket.com® found at http://www.theslanket.com/index/php?path=the_product discloses a blanket having a panel and sleeves with a billowing loose neck that is appointed to be worn by persons when relaxing at home/sitting down. Each of these blankets involves flowing, billowing material that would render safety risks if utilized by infants.
Although these aforementioned blankets are provided with sleeves and portions that could conceivably cover the infant in the car seat, they require substantial manipulation and movement of the infant when they are being applied. As a result the infant may awaken and/or become agitated and annoyed. Moreover, wherein the infant is a newborn or very young, such movement may require less than delicate maneuverings. What is more, none of the travel blankets provide tapered sleeve cuffs. Consequently, the blanket can easily fall off of the infant and can pose suffocation and mobility risks, as an infant's motor skills are not fully functioning. The disheveled blanket may fold or shift towards the child's face and pose a suffocation hazard.
Application of the variously disclosed travel blankets, include disadvantageous structures, for example: (i) those having hoods require that after the infant's arms are received in the sleeves, the infant's head must be elevated and angled acutely forward from the seat to be inserted in the hood; (ii) those having portions that must wrap around to the back of the wearer's/infant's torso from the front operate to cause the parent/care giver to substantially lean the child's body forward while still strapped in the seat, tending to result in a need to adjust the safety straps to provide ample room to extend the side extension/wraps behind the child's back—otherwise, the child would be in discomfort while the parent's hands are jammed behind the child's spine; (iii) those having pouches or other leg and feet containment sections for receiving and housing the infant's legs and feet require the parent to literally lift the infant's legs and feet, bend or otherwise contort the infant's legs to force (which, if the infant is kicking can be quite traumatic) them into the pouch; and (iii) loose sleeve collars and necklines posing suffocation risks. All the devices result in a cumbersome donning task, ultimately waking any sleeping baby and annoying any contented baby. While encasement of the infant's legs, preventing the blanket from shifting therefrom, results not only in mass manipulation of the infant's legs and feet, but an infant likely feeling overly constrained and agitated as the legs and feet become bound within the pouch or pocket. None of the blankets uniquely address the needs particularly associated with infants and toddlers. These needs include a blanket design that can be readily placed on the infant with minimal disruption, while providing a sleek structure that does not pose suffocation risks.
None of the blankets, garments or travel blankets heretofore disclosed provide a travel blanket that is frontward donned on an infant strapped in a car seat (or stroller, etc.) by inserting an infant's arms into contoured, or tapered, sleeves, covering the infant's entire torso and legs without moving same and simply securing the blanket's perimeters to the exterior sides and bottom portions of the seat. Such a construct would provide a travel blanket that requires minimal manipulation and movement of the infant, while ensuring that the travel blanket does not shift and expose the infant to the cold or pose a suffocation risk.
There remains a need in the art for a travel blanket having sleeve members and an open back construction so that the blanket can be readily donned upon an infant buckled within a seat without the need to adjust safety straps. Also needed is a travel blanket having a base section constructed with a base periphery integrated with base stabilization means therein for securing the base section of the blanket onto an outer, exterior bottom portion of the seat so that the blanket is secured over the infant without the need to move the infant's body or legs, thus eliminating struggling with the infant and unwanted shifting of the blanket. Moreover, there is a need in the art for a travel blanket having lateral sections including a lateral perimeter appointed for aiding in securing the lateral sections of the blanket over the infant. Additionally, there is a need in the art for a travel blanket having contoured, or tapered, sleeves to mitigate movement of the blanket, secure the blanket on the infant, and mitigate suffocation risks. In summary, there is a need in the art for a travel blanket that ensures a significant amount of coverage over the entire body of the infant, secure coverage that does not lend to shifting of the blanket, and minimal jostling or moving of the infant when the blanket is being applied onto the infant.